


you gave me a heart

by honeyseong



Category: Kari-gurashi no Arietti | The Secret World of Arrietty
Genre: F/M, some happy content i made on a whim because i feel like shit right now whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 01:18:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18419837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeyseong/pseuds/honeyseong
Summary: An act of kindness goes a long way.





	you gave me a heart

**Author's Note:**

> super cheesy and not realistic but it's something to soothe the soul i guess?

Arrietty always found it suspicious how the borrowers were exactly like humans, just smaller. She wondered if it was just a weird mutation in the gene pool early on, or if they evolved the exact same way, with her ancestors being one-tenth the size of the humans’.

Fortunately for her, she didn’t have to wonder any longer. All of her daydreams and wishes would be answered.

Two days after the Clocks (and Spiller) left Sho’s house, they found themselves a nice little home in the hollow bark of a thick tree. It was evident that borrowers had lived there previously, for there were pieces of furniture laying around the house, but coated in a thick layer of dust. There was a termite problem, too, but it could have easily been resolved with a bit of tidying up.

After some work, they laid out their belongings and decided to celebrate their new home by setting off on a four-person borrowing. Spiller was adept at foraging, so he lead the way through the twisted vines and the long blades of dewy grass.

The whole time, Arrietty tried to put on a smile for her parents, but it was all in vain. Her heart ached, filled with the sorrow of leaving Sho behind, wondering if they were ever going to meet again and if he would even be alive by the end of the week. She wished she could have been big, maybe hold his hand to keep him steady. She would be ready to offer her own heart as a final sacrifice.

She looked up at the sun, dismissed her fruitless thoughts, and worked out the time.

‘Sho’s operation probably finished earlier today,’ she thought, wiping tears from her eyes. ‘I just hope he’s okay.’

Arrietty felt the tears sting her red eyes and stream down her cheek. At this point she was bawling, trying to cover up sobs and hiccups by putting her hand over her mouth. She hoped that no one could hear her. After all, she already tried to put some distance between herself and her family, who walked ahead steadily.

Suddenly, she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. She almost shrieked, but a second hand came over her mouth and dragged a finger across her lips, the hand’s long nails leaving red scratches on her smooth face. She pulled the hand away and tried to scream, but no sound came out. Instead, a bright silhouette appeared in front of her.

“Hello young borrower,” the cloaked figure whispered, their voice sounding like chimes in the wind. Arrietty shivered.

“W-Who are you?” She wanted to say, but the spell on her mouth was still present.

“You’re wondering who I am, aren’t you?” Arrietty nodded vigorously, a frown clear on her face.

“I am a witch, and I have been sensing great amounts of distress from you. That’s all you need to know.”

The witch removed her cloak, revealing a slim body radiating light. Arrietty squinted, the rays blinding her. The only real pieces of clothing the witch wore were a translucent white gown and a matching veil that made her features almost indistinguishable. Upon closer inspection, there were gemstones embedded into her skin, explaining why she was shining so brightly in the daytime. Her hair seemed to be some gold liquid, which dripped onto the grass as she moved closer to the borrower.

“You must be wondering why you are so small,” she smirked. “And why your beloved is so big.” 

“I’ll admit it. It’s my curse. It was placed generations ago onto a selfish, selfish man and his unfortunate family.

“You see, he didn’t want to give up any of his wealth to aid his dying son. He left him alone in the hospital with a set of dolls made to resemble the family. When he eventually succumbed to the illness, I placed a curse over him. 

“He was shrunk, so all his wealth was no longer his, and all he could own were bits and pieces of others’ belongings. I thought it would be suiting to make him into those dolls he left his son with. The rest of his family was cursed as well, for they shared similar attitudes and dismissed the child. Their own child.”

Arrietty was sympathetic, so she brushed away her questions about incest (how were they supposed to multiply?).

“The family survived through generations, dubbing themselves ‘the borrowers’. The curse could have lasted until all relatives perished, but you came along.”

The borrower furrowed her brows, not following what the witch meant.

“You broke the curse. Well, I lifted it out of my own will. Although you had nothing but yourself to offer, you strengthened the heart of a young boy and helped him live. I cannot punish you for someone else’s actions anymore.”

‘Live,’ Arrietty repeated in her head. She clutched her heart. ‘Sho survived his operation.’

The witch seemed to know what she was thinking, as she held Arrietty’s shoulder to keep her steady.

She pressed a delicate kiss to her left hand, and placed it on Arrietty’s mouth.

“You may speak now.”

“What happens now?” the girl asked desperately.

“The curse is lifted, dear child. All borrowers are going to grow back to their original size.” 

“All?”

“I’m feeling generous.”

At her size, it would be easier to find Sho!

“And,” she continued. “Since you broke the curse, I’m obliged to give you three wishes. Afterwards, you will never see me again.”

Arrietty looked around then back at herself. Even deep into the forest, there were still a few humans around.

‘Humans,’ she thought. All of them were really human. They were recognised in the world, they had proof of each person’s existence. The (ex-)borrowers were no one. They couldn’t do anything if they had no documents of themselves.

“That’s a good first wish.” Arrietty whipped her head around and frowned again. 

“I didn’t say anything.” The witch wasn’t an enemy, but that didn’t mean she was exempted from any suspicion.

“I can hear the voice of your heart. I know what you truly want, so I won’t waste my time summoning up useless material items that my clients could consume in a day.’

The ex-borrower just nodded in acknowledgement.

The witch waved her hand in the air, her palm glowing with a weird sort of magic.

“Well there you are, I have filled you in as proper people in the world— and by ‘you’ I mean all borrowers in the world. As I said earlier, I am feeling quite generous. All your paperwork is done, your passports are in your pockets, and no one will ever question your identity.”

The young ex-borrower girl felt around her enlarged bag, and behold, there was a small book— a passport, apparently. At that moment, it was the size of a raindrop.

“You’ll need it if you ever want to travel. And don’t worry, everything you own will grow with you.”

She nodded.

“Now, for your second wish—”

“Could you give us a place to stay?”

The witch nodded and picked out a small gem from her arm. Then, she dropped it on the ground and stomped it into the dirt.

“I’ll provide every borrower with a modest house. It is fully furnished, and when you open the door, you’ll notice a pile of money on the floor. That’s worth five-million yen, so don’t spend it all at once.”

Spend? Her whole life, all she knew was borrowing. This was all so new to her.

Out of nowhere, the witch pressed a kiss to Arrietty’s forehead.

The girl found herself looking into her own mind, travelling the road until she found a cozy cottage at the end of a village.

“Your final wish?”

Deep down in her heart, she already knew what she wanted.

“I want to find Sho again.”

“Of course you do.”

With a smile, she grabbed a tuft of golden locks from the back of her head. When she gave it to Arrietty, the girl was surprised to find that it was molten and shimmering. Wait, how did she just pick up a liquid?

“Drink it.” The witch interrupted her thoughts. The liquid in her hands was scorching, but the borrower felt no pain.

“I have blessed you with the sixth sense of love. You will never lose him again. If you ever feel lost, imagine a red string in your head and follow where it takes you.”

And with that, the witch flew up from the ground into the sky.

Red… string? 

Arrietty closed her eyes and imagined the string like the witch instructed, and she saw it. She saw the paths to take, she saw Sho, and he was looking back at her. It was ethereal. There were bags under his eyes, but otherwise, he looked alive.

“A...Arrietty.” A faint voice whispered in her head, the words matching the lip movement of the boy she saw in her mind. “Is…. is that you?”

“Sho!” She screamed internally. “You’re okay!”

“It really is you. This isn’t just my imagination.”

“Sho, I- I’m going to become a human! I’ll get to see you! I can touch you! Just wait for me!”

Sho laughed. “I’ll be waiting here.”

Arrietty was going to reply, but missed Spiller sprinting towards her, her parents trailing slightly behind him.

“Arrietty!” Spiller yelled. “We big!”

“What?” she replied in utter confusion, opening her eyes and temporarily severing the connection between her and Sho.

“Look around, we’re the size of beans!”

Arrietty stared at her mother and slowly turned around, wrapping her head around the different perspective. The grass was now thin and only scraped a bit past her ankle, she could probably wrap her arms fully around some trees, the wildlife wouldn’t be so threatening anymore. 

They truly were humans now.

“Mother, father, we’re human beans now!” she cried out, running to embrace them.

“How could this happen?”

“I— I don’t know, but now we don’t have to live in fear!”

Arrietty knew that it was better to keep some things secret. Things were only going to go uphill from here, anyway.


End file.
